Fruit-protector.



No. 771,267. I PATENTED OCT. 4, 1904.

P. B. READ, DEOD.

s. 0. L. READ, EXEGUTRIX.

FRUIT PROTECTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 24, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

mia'l. I

WITNESS-RES:

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES Patented October 4, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK BROCKWVAY READ, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.; SARAH CAROLINE LITTLEFIELD READ EXECUTRIX OF SAID FRANK BROCKVVAY READ, DECEASED.

FRUIT-PROTECTOR- SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,267, dated October 4, 1904.

Application filed October 24:, 1903.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK BROOKWAY READ, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fruit-Protectors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fruit-protectors in the nature of cushions, such as are used between the contents of a barrel and the head of the barrel, and has for its object to provide a cushion or packing of the above-indicated character which will be efficient at every portion, at the edge as well as at the center.

To this end my invention consists of certain features of construction, as will be fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of my invention with parts broken away. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is across-section of another form of my invention.

The improved packing comprises a suitable foundation A, which may consist of a circular piece of pasteboard or stout paper, a facing B, and a filling C, contained between the foundation and the facing. This filling may consist of excelsior or any other suitable yielding material. In packings of this character I have found that the edge portions generally are not yielding to the same degree as the center of the packing, and thus the protection afforded by the cushion is not so eflicient as might be desired. In order to overcome this difficulty and at the same time to avoid the difficulty which would be experienced in inserting a cushion with stifl' edges through the narrow head of a barrel, 1 have devised the following construction, which allows the thickness of the filling to be substantially the same at the edge and at the center. The facing has its edge bent inward, so as to form a flange B, as it were, and this flange portion 1s secured to the foundation A, as shown 1n Flg. 2.

In manufacturing my improved packing the Serial No. 178,336- (No model.)

facing is placed upon a flat surface within a hoop corresponding to the shape of'the finished article, and the edges of the facing are turned inward to form a pocket which is filled with excelsior 'or other material. Then an adhesive is applied to the flange portion of the facing and the circular foundation is applied to complete the article.

Instead of employing a foundation of stout paper or the like I may make use of any other foundation-as, for instance, corrugated paper or coardboard A, covered on one side with a layer of paper A Fig. 3. Such corrugated cardboard covered on one side is now readily obtainable in the market.

It will be observed that the edge portion of the facing is rounded and that the filling extends into contact with said rounded edge that is, into the space between the flange B and the exposed layer of the facing. Furthermore, the facing has an infold at its edge which contributes to give the edge portion the desirable elasticity. The flange portion B is secured to the foundation A or A at a distance from the edge of the foundation, so

that the edge portion of the packing is relatively free.

The stiff foundation prevents the bending or displacement of the cushion, while the .cush'ionproper, which is thicker than the foundation, may easily be inserted by bending the edges upward and at the same time compressing the cushion laterally. The edges of the cushion and the foundation passing into the barrel separately may each easily be flexed, which would not be the case did they pass in attached to one another. This construction is of advantage also when used as a packing for fruit and other articles packed in ordinary square boxes, as the packing may be made to fit the sides of the box closely and without any difficulty being experienced in inserting the same into the box.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A fruit-protecting packing, consisting of its infold, the free edge of said infold being a relatively stiff foundation having a free edge, I

i secured to the foundation at a distance from l l a facing provided With a loose infold, and an elastic filling contained Within said facing and its infold, said infold being secured near its free edge only to the foundation, whereby a the edge of the foundation, and the edge portion of the foundation, beyond the line at Which said infold is attached, being flexible cushion is formed free from direct attachment toward and from the infold of the facing. to the foundation. I

2. A fruit-protecting packing, consisting of arelatively stifl foundation havinga free edge, l a facing provided with a loose infold, and an elastic filling contained Within said facing and FRANK BROCKWAY READ.

l/Vitnesses:

HENRY A. READ, EUGENE EBLE. 

